Press Releases & Updates 2001

Carol (47), a mother of three from Birmingham, took part in the Big Blockade of Faslane on February 12th this year. Today she told Justice Alexander that humanitarian law over-rode any right to self-defence. She was in tears as she read the testimony of a girl from Hiroshima who had been the sole survivor of her class when the US dropped the atomic bomb on her city and who said it was "like hell on earth." Carol told the court that the UK was ready to spend billions on weapons of mass destruction while two out of every five children in Birmingham were born to a life of poverty. She could not stand by and do nothing. She was found guilty and fined £100.

John Robb (28), a student from Rothesay, was also found guilty and fined the same amount for a Big Blockade charge of breach of the peace. He and his girlfriend had lain in the roadway kissing and cuddling. Procurator Fiscal Diana McConnell acknowledged that kissing was no crime but maintained that he had committed a breach of the peace. John said that it was the base which was causing distress, alarm and nuisance. John’s sentence sharply illustrates the vagaries of this particular court. His girlfriend, Patricia O’Reilly, previously pled guilty by letter to the charge and was fined £250 by JP Fraser Gillies.

Tony Davies (67), a prison chaplain and retired doctor from Edinburgh, was found guilty of the same offence and fined £100. Tony said that he had worked with Jubilee 2000 and Drop the Debt and saw the anti-Trident struggle as similar in that both campaigns were backed by the majority of the people of Scotland. Yet, without protest there was no way for the wishes of the majority to be realised. The UK government was committing a continuous crime by actively deploying Trident and Tony asked the magistrate to take account of the statement by the Church of Scotland which encouraged people to resist it by nonviolent action.

For Trident Ploughshares Jane Tallents said: "If anyone doubts the strength of the nuclear disarmament movement today they should come down to the local courts here and listen. The approach of the different activists to these ridiculous charges is so rich and varied and yet they are all absolutely clear in their opposition to this crime and their determination to continue to resist it."

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